Artist Biography
Artist Scott Cohen originally envisioned the Life Cube Project as a creative way to bring people together and encourage them to write down and reach for their goals, dreams, and aspirations. Through interactive installations at the Burning Man festival and collaborative civic art installations around the world, thousands of participants have touched, inscribed, painted on, and added their personal visions to the Life Cube, with even more posting and following the project on social media.
Since Scott first conceived of the Life Cube in 2010, the project has become larger in scope, more aesthetic, and increasingly interactive. Throughout, his mission has been the same: to encourage people to write down what they want to accomplish in life, and to connect art and community involving as many people as possible. This is NOT “I built this, come and see it” but rather, “Come and be a part of the art!”
Three Life Cube installations were presented at Burning Man before Scott was awarded an Honorarium Artist grant to return the Life Cube to Burning Man in 2015. Additional Life Cube projects have been developed for civic arts festivals, for rural areas lacking arts enrichment, and for communities facing social and economic challenges. Projects range in size and scale from smaller structures, to a twelve-foot metal Life Cube sculpture, to a 24-foot high wood-framed mega-Life Cube with a bigger footprint.
The larger Life Cube installations have culminated in exhilarating closing ceremonies where all the goals and dreams of the community are released in an enormous bonfire complete with pyrotechnics, consigning all the art, the community’s written goals and dreams, and the entire structure to the flames. Whatever its form, the Life Cube Project is ephemeral, radically inclusive and non-commercial. Hundreds of artists and volunteers have joined Scott in planning and executing each project. And over a thousand individual donors have supported the Life Cube, with other funding provided by grants, foundations and local underwriting.
The Life Cube’s social outreach program has traveled to a hundred schools and provided free art materials for 50,000 children, conducting talks and workshops on art, community and goal setting. As its founding artist, Scott has spoken to folks in shelters, rehab centers and university students on these topics as well. As of 2022, over 100,000 people have participated in or interacted with the Life Cube in communities across the country, including Reno, Mason Valley and Las Vegas, Nevada, El Paso, Texas, the Bronx, New York, and Miami Beach, Florida, among others. The most recent Life Cube was constructed and burned outside Lviv, Ukraine, providing a cathartic release of dozens of refugees’ written goals and dreams. Each installation activates its space and becomes a center of creativity. With over twenty-five thousand followers on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, the project is an attention magnet and lends itself to sharing on social media.
After creating online versions of the Life Cube Project for Virtual Burning Man in 2020, Scott was asked to help inspire disengaged students and teachers during the pandemic. He spoke to hundreds of students over Zoom, provided lesson plans and free art materials, and developed a means of displaying a thousand posted images created by the students as a single piece of collaborative, interactive digital art. He and his team are currently identifying opportunities to create future Life Cube installations connecting art and community. A long time resident of New York, Scott now lives in Easton, Maryland with his wife Madeleine and their two dogs, Scruffy and Casey.
Artist Portfolio
2023 Life Cube: Juárez! (Donated by Arist) El Buen Samaritano Albergue Para Migrantes, Ciudad Juárez, Mexico
2023 Life Cube: Tulum! @Naga, Tulum, Mexico
2022 Life Cube: UKRAINE! (Donated by the Artist in Partnership with Stradch House) Stradch Pilgrimage Center, Lviv Region, Ukraine
2022 Team member (Mediator) for Christo & Jean Claude’s l’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped! Paris, France
2021 Burning Man Life Cube (2 of 5) NFT auctioned for over $10,000; proceeds gifted to Burning Man, Boundless Space…the Possibilities of Burning Man, Sotheby’s, NYC
2021 Life Cube Del Sol for Del School Academy of Performing Arts (Virtual) Las Vegas, NV
2020 Virtual Life Cube at Burning Man 2020 Multiverse and BRC/3D Virtual Online Project
2019 Life Cube Miami Beach (New World Symphony/Donor Funded) SoundScape Park, Miami Beach, FL
2019 Life Cube Exhibit and Workshop at the Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, FL
2017 Life Cube at Chalk the Block Arts Festival (Grant: Museum & Cultural Affairs Dept.), El Paso, TX
2016 Life Cube for Riverdale (Grant: Riverdale Country School), Bronx, NY
2016 Life Cube for Downtown Las Vegas (Underwriter: Zappos for Good), Las Vegas, NV
2016 Life Cube for Mason Valley (Grant: Boys & Girls Clubs), Yerington, NV
2015 Life Cube: Envision at Burning Man (Honorarium Artist/Donor Funded), Black Rock City, NV
2015 Life Cube for Reno SculptureFest (Grants: Reno ArtWorks, Doors to Recovery), Reno, NV
2014 Life Cube for Downtown Las Vegas (Grants: Downtown Project, Life is Beautiful, Zappos), Las Vegas, NV
2013 Life Cube III at Burning Man: Envision (Donor Funded), Black Rock City, NV
2012 Life Cube II at Burning Man (Donor Funded), Black Rock City, NV
2011 Life Cube at Burning Man (Donor Funded), Black Rock City, NV
Selected Galleries and Exhibits
2020 Life Cube DTAlley “Mailbox Moment” Permanent Installation, Las Vegas, NV
2019 Life Cube Miami Beach Exhibit and Workshop, The Bass Museum, Miami Beach, FL
2019 Life Cube Miami Beach Exhibit, New World Center Atrium, Miami Beach, FL
2016 Life Cube Las Vegas, “Satellite Cubes Around Town”, Las Vegas, NV (including LGBTQ Center, Federal Courthouse, City Hall, Downtown 3rd Farmers Market, and other civic centers)
2014 “Together We Rise, a Burning Man NYC Benefit and Social” at the Bowery Hotel, New York, NY
2014 “Burning Man: Igniting Nevada's Creative Fire”, Reno-Tahoe Int’l Airport, Reno, NV
2014 “Life Cube Project Art Retrospective”, Lloyd George U.S Courthouse/Federal Bldg., Las Vegas, NV
2014 “Life Cube Project Photography”, Reclaimed Art Suppliez/ Community Art Exch., Las Vegas, NV
Selected Artist Speaking Engagements
2021 “The Life Cube Project: Connecting Art and Community”, school outreach programs reaching over 45,000 students (from 2014 – 2021) at hundreds of schools and locations
2019 “Life Cube Project/Miami Beach”, New World Symphony’s Family Days, Miami Beach, FL
2019 “Constructing/Deconstructing the Life Cube Project for Miami Beach)”, Florida International University, Miami Beach Urban Studios (MBUS), Miami Beach, FL
2018 “Building the Life Cube Project” and “Art and Innovation for Social Good”
Presentation for School of Media Studies – The New School, New York, NY (also 2014 – 2017)
2016 Digiday Corporate “Cocktails and Conversation” Speaker Series, New York, NY
2016 Downtown Las Vegas Alliance, Spring Speaker Series, Las Vegas, NV
2015 Burning Man Artists Symposium, San Francisco, CA
2015 “The Life Cube Journey from Burning Man to Beyond” - Sierra Arts Foundation, Reno, NV
2014 CreativCatalyst Showcase Speaker series “Catalyst Week”, Las Vegas, NV
2014 “Art Talk: The Life Cube Project” - Amanda Harris Gallery of Contemporary Art, Las Vegas, NV
2014 “The Life Cube Comes to Las Vegas” - Zappos All-Hands Company Meeting, Las Vegas, NV
2014 “Burning Man to Las Vegas” – XL Marketing, New York, NY
Publications
2014 “The Life Cube Project: Journey from Burning Man to Las Vegas”
Art Book with collected photographs, posts and letters from the Life Cube Project (NFS)
Selected Media/Film
2021 “Life Cube Del Sol”, coverage on KNTV, News3LV, NewsBreak
2020 “The Life of a Cube”, Talbot Spy Artist Interview
2019 “The Life Cube in Miami”, FlashLife Drone Video, Miami Beach, FL
2017 “Rainbow of Chaos: The Life Cube in Las Vegas”, full length film by Arlo Laibowitz
2017 KTSM and IHeartRadio El Paso et al, live interviews/multiple on-site newscasts
2016 “The Life Cube Project at Riverdale Community Day”, film produced by RCS AV team
2016 “Bigger Than a Box”, documentary produced by Zappos.com AV team
2016 Multiple Radio and TV News appearances, Las Vegas metro area
2016 NPR Interviews, “The Life Cube Project” (also 2014, KNPR Public Radio)
2016 “Life Cube Project Burn”, drone video produced by #Vegas
2015 “The Life Cube Project Documentary”, short film by H. Joven Andrews
2014 PBS ArtScene series feature segment by Matt Christianson, Las Vegas, NV
2014 KTNV ABC, KLAS CBS, KVVU FOX, KSNV NBC, etc. live interview morning/newscasts
2014 Downtown Podcast (episode 51), Las Vegas, NV
2014 “Life Cube Project” short documentary video by Fremont East Studios, Las Vegas, NV
2013 Fest300 with Chip Conley, Burning Man, Black Rock City, NV
To view these videos and more, visit the Life Cube Project channel on YouTube
Selected Press
Presenting Art in the Virtual World: Life Cube Returns to Burning Man, Medium.com (October 14, 2020)
The Life of a Cube: The Art of Scott Cohen, Talbot Spy (October 3, 2020)
An Art Installation Without Boundaries, Attraction Magazine (October 2020, p 44)
Life Cube Project Premieres at Virtual Burning Man 2020, Broadway World (August 30, 2020)
Hopes and Dreams in the Cube!, ArtBurst Miami (November 21 2019)
Life Cube Miami Beach: If You Dream It, They Will Come!, ReMiamiBeach.com (November 15 2019)
Things to Do: Life Cube Project Miami Beach!, TimeOut.com (November 14 2019)
Meet Scott Cohen of Life Cube Project in Miami Beach, Voyage Miami (November 13 2019)
Life Cube Project Brings Interactive Art to SoundScape Park, New World Symphony (November 10 2019)
Playwright Scott Cohen Creates Interactive Art in Miami Beach, Broadway World (November 5 2019)
Chalk the Block Celebrates Ten Years with Largest Attendance, UT Prospector Daily (October 9, 2017)
The Powerful, All-Inclusive Message Behind the Life Cube, What’s Up El Paso (October 4, 2017)
Changing the World Through Art: The Life Cube, Happiness.org (October 2, 2017)
Middle School to Build “Life Cube” for Community Day, Riverdale News (October 5, 2016)
If You Build It, They Will Come, Medium.com (September 14, 2016)
Thousands Watch 24-Foot Downtown Vegas Art Project Ceremoniously Burned, Las Vegas Review-Journal (April 3, 2016)
The Man Behind the Life Cube: Meet Scott Cohen, DTLV.com Downtowners (April 2, 2016)
The Life Cube Will Burn Again, KNPR’s State of Nevada, Nevada Public Radio (March 23, 2016)
When Life Imitates Art: The Message and Purpose of Life Cube, News3LV (March 23, 2016)
Life Cube Comes Alive as Arts Celebration Begins in Downtown Las Vegas, Review-Journal (March 19, 2016)
Life Cube Returns to Downtown Las Vegas, Review-Journal (March 16, 2016)
The Return of Life Cube and Debut of Bliss Dance Bring More Burning Man to Vegas, LV Weekly (March 2, 2016)
Artist Encourages Students to Write Down Goals, Reno Gazette Journal (January 29, 2016)
Artist to Speak at Youth of Year Banquet, Reno Gazette Journal (January 20, 2016)
Psychedelic, Playful, Controversial Sculptures Take Over Reno, Reno Gazette Journal (May 9, 2015)
Take Your First Stroll Through the 2015 BRC Art Installations, Burning Man Journal (May 15, 2015)
Why Burning Man Courts the Tech Elite, VB.com Venture Beat (September 1, 2014)
Best of Both Worlds: The Life Cube Project, MarxMason Blog (April 12, 2014)
The Life Cube Burn Demonstrates the Art of Civic Engagement, Las Vegas Weekly (March 26, 2014)
Life at the Cube, NiteWalk.com (March 25, 2014)
Life Cube Burns in Downtown Las Vegas, Burning Man Journal (March 24, 2014)
Life Cube in Downtown Las Vegas Burns Friday Night, Fox5Vegas.com (March 21, 2014)
Las Vegas Gets a Slice of Burning Man With The Life Cube 2014, Tech.co (March 20, 2014)
Art, Squared: See the Life Cube Project Before It Burns, DTLV Downtown Seen (March 14, 2014)
Scott Elementary School to Participate in Life Cube Project (March 7, 2014)
The Life Cube Project | Downtown Project Las Vegas, Local Adventurer (March 2014)
The Life Cube Project Lights Up Downtown, KNPR State of Nevada Interview (February 25, 2014)
Burning Man-Inspired ‘Life Cube’ will Unleash Your Dreams into the Air, LV Weekly (February 5, 2014)
Before the Burn: Downtown’s Life Cube an Inviting Canvas for Artists, LV Sun (February 4, 2014)
Joe Downtown: Why This Giant, Burning Cube Can Change Your Life, LV Sun (November 20, 2013)